Cauldron of Resistance

Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s Southern Vietnam

Bibliographic Data

ID20032466
AuthorsJessica M Chapman (0000-0001-5035-2141, corresponding author)
Year2013
Pages276
Publication date2013-01-17
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueCauldron of resistance (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCornell University Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.7591/cornell/9780801450617.001.0001
OpenAlexW4206006190
ISBN9780801450617
Open LibraryOL25385109M
LanguageEN
Citations received11

In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem organized an election to depose chief-of-state Bao Dai, after which he proclaimed himself the first president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam. The United States sanctioned the results of this election, which was widely condemned as fraudulent, and provided substantial economic aid and advice to the RVN. Because of this, Diem is often viewed as a mere puppet of the United States, in service of its Cold War geopolitical strategy. That narrative, the book contends, grossly oversimplifies the complexity of South Vietnam's domestic politics and, indeed, Diem's own political savvy. The book offers a detailed account of three crucial years, 1953–1956, during which a new Vietnamese political order was established in the south. It is, in large part, a history of Diem's political ascent as he managed to subdue the former Emperor Bao Dai, the armed Hoa Hao and Cao Dai religious organizations, and the Binh Xuyen crime organization. The book shows Diem to be an engaged leader whose personalist ideology influenced his vision for the new South Vietnamese state, but also shaped the policies that would spell his demise. Washington's support for Diem because of his staunch anticommunism encouraged him to employ oppressive measures to suppress dissent, thereby contributing to the alienation of his constituency, and helped inspire the organized opposition to his government that would emerge by the late 1950s and eventually lead to the Vietnam War

Allegiance · Ancient history · Demise · Dissent · Economic history · Emperor · Ideology · Opposition (politics) · Political dissent · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · Vietnamese · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · 1901-1963 · foreign relations · Ngo, dinh diem · Ngô, Đình Diệm (1901-1963) · politics and government · united states · Vietnam · Vietnam (Republic)

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